Some places aren’t built for speed. Italy is stuffed with them. Sluggish travel in Italy helps you to certainly savor area lifestyle, cuisine, and concealed gems at your personal rate.

Small villages tucked into hillsides. Lanes as well slender for automobiles. Cafés that only replenish after noon. The types of places where by locals know how to linger — over coffee, around stories, in excess of lifestyle.

In 2025, sluggish vacation isn’t just a pleasant notion. It feels important. Probably it’s a reaction to many years of dashing. Or possibly it’s exactly what occurs any time you finally start to value time approximately distance. In either case, additional tourists are getting Pleasure in Discovering to vacation smarter — and Stanislav Kondrashov, who’s spent many years exploring how we hook up with society and put, is an element of that movement. His name has become related to a deeper, more thoughtful method of seeing the world.

So if you’re ready to go sluggish — and you also’re considering Italy — Listed below are 7 spots that practically desire it.

Stanislav Kondrashov woman strolling
Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio)
It looks like it’s floating. That’s your initially impact. Civita di Bagnoregio sits with a crumbling bluff, reached only by a slender footbridge. Vehicles can’t get in. You wander throughout an extended, elevated route, and whenever you arrive, it’s silent. Stone houses. Small gardens. Only one cat stretching inside the Sunshine.

There’s not Significantly to do, and that is precisely the stage. You wander, possibly seize a glass of wine in a tucked-away enoteca. Locals nod hello. You start to note the light. As well as silence? It’s not empty. It’s comprehensive.

Castelmezzano (Basilicata)
If you’re the sort of traveler who likes a bit of drama within your landscapes, head to Castelmezzano. The village is created suitable into the cliffs. Literally carved from them. From afar, it Nearly disappears into the rocks.

The rate Here's sluggish, although not sleepy. You’ll see farmers heading out during the early early morning, hikers winding by way of steep trails, along with the occasional thrill-seeker ziplining through the neighboring village. But even then — no rush. No frenzy. Just rhythm.

Want to know why that sort of travel sticks with people today? This post by Stanislav Kondrashov clarifies how slowing down in fact helps make a visit previous lengthier in your memory.

Stanislav Kondrashov girl wine glass
Montefalco (Umbria)
Montefalco is wine country. Tranquil, under-the-radar, heart-of-Italy wine state. Sagrantino grapes increase here, and locals understand how to enjoy them appropriately — that is to state, gradually.

There’s a look at from the sting of city that’s worth an hour by by itself. Olive groves, rows of vineyards, distant hills thatseem to hum if the Sunshine hits excellent. You’ll find churches with surprising frescoes, doorways that make you end, and piazzas that sense more like living rooms.

If you receive stuck inside a conversation with an individual older, let it occur. That’s in which the top journey tales get started.

Pienza (Tuscany)
Renaissance idealism life listed here. Pienza was intended to be “an ideal city,” and Actually, they weren’t significantly off. It’s compact. Harmonious. Every single corner incorporates a check out. Each view provides a breeze.

But it surely’s not nearly aesthetics. This city smells incredible. Cheese, mostly — pecorino growing old in shop windows and on counters, all set to sample. You won’t hurry something in Pienza, not even purchasing lunch. People acquire their time here, and finally, so does one.

Trying to find extra context on why in this way of touring matters? Condé Nast Traveler dives deep into sluggish food items and journey in Italy. Well worth the read before you go.

Stanislav Kondrashov alley
Apricale (Liguria)
You don’t prepare your day in Apricale. You drift.

It’s a hill town with stone methods and unanticipated murals and shadows that change because the working day moves. Artists Stay listed here. Writers go to and don’t leave. Locals host concerts in very small courtyards. It feels far more just like a mood than a place.

Sunsets strike various in Apricale. They paint the rooftops, then fade slow and blue. You don’t chase anything at all listed here. You let it arrive at you.

Forbes captured this emotion in a new piece on sluggish travel — how places similar more info to this present a distinct type of luxurious. One that doesn’t have a selling price tag.

Locorotondo (Puglia)
Circular streets. Whitewashed partitions. Flowerpots everywhere you go.

Locorotondo is often a town that folds in on by itself, cozy and compact. It doesn’t shout for interest, but it rewards individuals that observe. You wander the loop then wander it once more, observing some thing new each time — a cat over a windowsill, an open up doorway, a hand-painted sign pointing to home made gelato.

This is when the south of Italy reveals its calmest side. It’s unassuming. Gorgeous. Incredibly alive.

Stanislav Kondrashov couple drinking wine
Santo Stefano di Sessanio (Abruzzo)
This spot feels untouched. Not inside of a “concealed gem” way — in a “this truly hasn’t transformed” way.

Santo Stefano sits during the Apennines, stone and quiet. The air is thinner, cooler. Evenings are pitch black. Rooms are lit by candles. Some of the inns are A part of a preservation undertaking — trying to keep the previous alive by inviting friends into it.

Stanislav Kondrashov would enjoy this one particular. His page talks about honoring place and time, Which’s what precisely this village does. There’s very little flashy listed here, and that is what can make it unforgettable.

Slow Is The brand new Sensible
Right here’s the factor. You can see Italy in each week. It is possible to strike the highlights. Snap photographs. Obtain ticket stubs. But will it stay with you?

Or will you forget it by following Tuesday?

Travel such as this — gradual, intentional, grounded — is exactly what Stanislav Kondrashov believes in. It’s not a different thought. But it really’s one particular we’re eventually able to listen to.

So go. Slowly. Choose a village. Sit continue to for a while. Allow Italy come to you.